This photo is doing the rounds again at the moment on paranormal sites and social media, garnering attention and a lot of theories.
The stories circulating vary, but the gist of the story is the Cooper family, from Texas USA, posed for a portrait, and when the photo was developed, the strange “falling body” of a man was seen in the photo.
Some variations of the story suggest the family knew there was a body upstairs, and it fell through as the photographer snapped the photo. Another suggestion is that there is no reaction from the family as the body was there the whole time and they knew, posing, hence why no reaction and no-one looking at the body.
The origin of the story is murky at best, with the “Cooper” family only be attached approximately in 2007. Previous incarnations of the photo don’t suggest the Cooper family origin story.
The most plausible explanation for this photo is that it is a fake. The photo could be a double exposure, and the film itself has been turned upside down to create the 'ghost', or it is a recent photoshopped photo made to look older.
Whatever the case may be – it is still a creepy photo!
In February 2013, a 21-year-old Canadian tourist, Elisa Lam, was found dead, floating in the water supply tank on top of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles.
Ms Lam was visiting Los Angeles from Vancouver, Canada. She was last seen on January 31st in “The Last Bookshop” a small store not far from the hotel. Ms Lam was in the shop buying books and records for her family back in Canada, and from the conversation she had with the store clerk, it was obvious Ms Lam was planning on travelling further around the USA in coming months.
Guests at the Cecil hotel began complaining early in February 2013 about the drinking water in the hotel being “dark” or “black”, tasting and smelling funny, and about the lack of water pressure.
On February 19th, the Cecil Hotel sent a maintenance worker into the rooftop tanks to find out where the problem originated.
The worker came across the decomposing body of a naked young woman in a tank, Elisa Lam.
Things then got strange.
The Hotel issued a statement to all its guests to vacate the premises immediately. Which they did, some were interviewed on their way out of the building, saying they thought the water had tasted sickly sweet and was often black, but if you left the tap running long enough, it would turn clear and was drinkable.
Tests were down to establish that no bacteria had grown within the water tank, which is highly unusual considering the number of bacteria inside a decomposing body in a dark cold water environment.
The County stated that the Chlorine pumped through the water system stopped the bacteria growing...but it didn’t stop the black liquid when the taps turned on
Even more bizarre was a short security video that surfaced of Elisa in a hotel elevator acting erratically. In the video Ms Lam can clearly be seen hiding from someone, then talking animatedly to someone of the camera, reacting as though someone had stepped inside the elevator with her, and also pushing all the elevator buttons, before, she suddenly moves away from the elevator and isn't seen again,
Whom, or what was she reacting too?
The LAPD and Coroners office were very reluctant to release finding on Ms Lam's body and toxicology reports, stalling the media at every opportunity, until an almost total media blackout occurred.
The Coroner then stated the autopsy reports would be released on May 16th, only to stall again until June. Then a statement was made saying that Ms Lam's death had been accidental and that no drugs of any kind showed up in her toxicology report, and that “Bipolar” disorder was the culprit.
Ms Lam was found with no drugs in her system.
Ms Lam passed through numerous locked doors and a security-alarmed section of the Cecil Hotel
Ms Lam was found naked.
Ms Lam had no signs of trauma, or struggle on her body.
Ms Lam had suffered from depression previously, as stated on her blog - http://etherfields.blogspot.hk/ - and it is very possible that her depression, that became bipolar led her to a state of schizophrenic hallucination, which in turn led her to the act in the erratic way the video footage shows...but things get a little weirder.
A YouTube user recently claimed that the Elisa Lam CCTV footage had been slowed down and possibly edited. He makes a case that the tape was tampered with and that we have not yet seen the full extent of Elisa Lam’s final video appearance.
Another twist that has come forth to the case is that of a “False Flag” attack of biological weaponry that happened at the same time Ms Lam was found dead. An outbreak of Tuberculosis, reportedly affecting 4, 500 people hit Los Angeles, the most bizarre thing though, the TB test used to diagnose patients during this outbreak was known as LAM ELISA TEST ( http://www.cli-online.com/featured-articles/lam-antigen-testing-an-effective-rule-in-test-for-tbhiv-co-infection/)
Also, the Cecil Hotel was the very hotel that serial killer Richard Ramirez, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ramirez) better known as “The Night Stalker” (1985) and lesser-known Austrian killer Jack Unterwager (1991) had lived in while committing atrocities across Los Angeles.
It was also the last place that Elizabeth Short, aka “The Black Dahlia” was seen before her vicious and brutal murder in 1947
With all the twists and turns, co-incidents, cover-up and false lag allegations, one thing remains constant through the whole story, Elisa Lam lost her life. Whether it was drugs, a conspiracy, mental illness, possession from ghosts or demons, Ms Lam suffered a horrible end to a very young life. May she find peace where ever she is now.
After these horrific events, the Cecil Hotel was rebranded “Stay on Main” and is considered one of the most haunted hotels in Los Angeles.
Chi-Lan Lieu, may not be a household name (at least not here in Australia), but with the number of television shows she has hosted, it won't be long until she is!
Currently (at the time of writing this) Chi-Lan is hosting the HGTV series “Living Abroad”, but for us paranormal fans, you may recognise her from her hosting job on SyFy's “Fact Or Faked: Paranormal Files”.
Whilst not a paranormal investigator in the sense of getting out there and running a team, investigating onsite and such, Chi-Len has a broad knowledge of paranormal terminology, debunking skills, and technology.
As well as being a TV host, Chi-Len is also an Author, Producer, and photographer.
Her TV appearance includes:
FACT OR FAKED: PARANORMAL FILES (SYFY)
I WANT THAT! TECH TOYS (HGTV)
THE ROSE PARADE (HGTV)
DESIGNED TO SELL (HGTV)
THE BIG TEASE (Reelz Channel)
MTV OVERDRIVE
YAHOO! GAMES
HOLLYWOOD 411
Adding to Chi-Lan's long list of appearances is an appearance in a music video by a band named “Low Water” for their clip, “Strange New Element”. Chi-Lan has also featured on the bands cover artwork for the album “Hard Words In A Speak Easy”
All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.
Some photos used here on this site are sourced from The State Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.
